Bord na Móna and the ESB are battling to secure planning permission for a large-scale solar farm that will have the capacity to power 30% of all households in Co Kildare each year.

“As you can imagine there’s a lot of frustration,” climate action minister Richard Bruton told journalists at the Lanesborough power plant in Co Longford, due to close next year, after a meeting with workers this afternoon.

Climate Action Minister Richard Bruton is travelling to the Midlands today along with Finance Minister Paschal Donohoe, Heritage Minister Josepha Madigan and Minister of State for the OPW, Kevin Boxer Moran.

Bishop Francis Duffy says in particular, state investment must address the immediate needs of those whose jobs will end in 2020.

The Government has sought to allay disquiet in the midlands over the closure of two peat-fired power stations by appointing its first Just Transition Commissioner, Kieran Mulvey.

The company is currently meeting with employees from West Offaly and Longford's Lough Ree power stations to inform them of the plan for the closure of the stations.

Bord na Móna is seeking opportunities to redeploy 200 staff, as it moves away from peat-harvesting.

More than 600,000 native trees are to be planted across 1,500 hectares of bogland that is no longer used for peat production.

The Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment Richard Burton, the ESB and Bord na Móna have been accused of “fiddling while Rome burns” by Siptu organiser Willie Noone.

The proposals for the facility in Shannonbridge, Co. Offaly would have seen it fuelled with biomass as well as peat.

The announcement that 148 workers would be laid off was made on July 11 and since then, union representatives and Bord Na Móna have been in talks over the staff losses.

It's over the temporary closure of a power-plant at Lanesboro, Co Longford, which Bord na Móna supplies.

They met local Oireachtas members outside their base in Mount Dillon yesterday.

Bord na Móna has reversed its decision to lay off 70 permanent staff in the midlands, according to Siptu.

An impasse between the ESB and the Environmental Protection Agency that has led to the suspension of operations at a power plant in Longford could lead to industrial action by Bord na Móna employees, unions are warning.

Bord Na Móna are due to lay off 150 employees from their Lough Ree Power plant in Longford.

When Health Minister Simon Harris recently signed legislation to allow for the operation of the Medical Cannabis Access Programme on a five-year pilot basis, he opened the door wider for an emerging sector which has significant potential to create jobs and a new revenue stream for the Government’s coffers.

The publication of the Government’s Climate Action Plan comes at the same time as the EU Commission is pushing hard to complete a South American trade deal.

An Irish startup using virtual and augmented reality is providing training solutions for companies in high-risk industries.

An inquest into the death of a former Bord na Mona employee, who died from an asbestos-related cancer, heard claims today the deceased was exposed to asbestos while working at one of the company’s briquette factories over 50 years ago.

Investment in infrastructure is bearing fruit in the form of rural regeneration, jobs growth, house building, and capital projects, to ensure balanced regional development, says Pascal Donohoe.

An environmental group has brought a High Court challenge against the State over new regulations that allow for the industrial extraction of peat from bogs.

The biggest contributor last year was the operator of Irish Water and Bord Gáis, Ervia, which paid out a dividend of €139m.

Bord na Móna is looking to fish farms, herb growing, recycling, tourism, and renewable energy to replace peat as it faces into a perfect storm.

The State must use the new €1.25bn Land Development Agency to finally unlock the potential of Cork’s docklands, which have capacity for some 15,000 homes.

Greencoat Renewables — the power-generating firm whose shares are listed in Dublin and London — has paid up to €281m to buy out most of the stakes held by Coillte in four wind farms, as the firm expands in Ireland by spending some of the proceeds it raised from the market.